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Friday, March 22, 2013

野方ホープ (Nogata Hopu in Sendagaya)

野方ホープ

Somewhere, on some list, I had written something about some ramen shop with ホープ in the name. It was a warm day, the first in a while, so I hopped on my bicycle and headed out. A Google Map search showed that it was somewhere super easy to get to. Just take the big road by my house, and turn on another big road a few kilometers away. No need to write anything down! Simple!

But I turned one street too late, and though not lost, was unsure where this place was. The next 30 minutes were spent searching randomly. Finally I ran right into it! Lucky?

Nogata Hopu, though it looks intense, had almost no taste. I would have never thought such a heavy bowl could be flavorless.

This is abura style ramen. Pork stock, flavored with soy sauce, and topped with a lot of pork back fat. My all-time favorite in this genre is Sengoku Jiman.

But, yeah, this one had no taste.

Until I added a massive pile of the table-side kimchi and raw garlic. Then it just tasted like garlic and kimchi.

When I got home, shock! This Hopu was the wrong Hopu! Just around the corner from Nogata Hopu is Hopu Ken. Yeah, I went to the wrong one.